Letter from Robert Burns to Robert Graham, 4 September 1790

Burns opens the letter by explaining that he has just left the Excise court in Dumfries and has stopped in at the Globe Inn, the local pub to write this message. He describes how he has achieved a valuable increase in his income through carefully surveying his ten parish divisions for excise offenses. He also indicates that he had taken a Robin Hood type of approach, which went down well with his masters and enhanced the value of his share of the fines imposed on the defaulters he had brought to book.

On page two Burns declares his intention to rid himself of Ellisland Farm which he now considers to be a hindrance in his Excise career. He now implores Graham to assist him with his next step up the Excise ladder. He declares his interest in a Port division and explains that he had already received some support from his 'kind funny friend, Captain Grose'. He goes on to say that he has his eye on becoming an Examiner, which is a precocious aspiration as Burns had only in the Excise service less than a year.

Burns continues on page three to encourage Graham to advise him on the best course of action to further his cause to become an Excise Examiner. He uses a Miltonian example to express his fears of the consequence of making a wrong approach. He then explains that he has recently moved to a foot-walk Division in Dumfries after only a few months in his ten parish ride in Nithsdale. This was an extremely fast promotion and may have encouraged his future thoughts which he expresses of being a Supervisor in the North of Scotland.

In this last page Burns states that he is enclosing a copy of his 'Elegy on Capt. Matthew Henderson', whom he presumes Graham will have known, and infers that it was lack of time to copy it which delayed his letter being sent. This poem has since been separated from the letter. Burns finally reflects on the injustice surrounding Matthew Henderson's death.